COPENHAGEN, Denmark: It was an offensive exercise on part of one of Denmark's largest papers Jyllands-Posten to ask cartoonists to draw pictures of the chief of Prophets, Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him and his pure progeny), for publishing in the daily, but apparently no one at the paper imagined the scale of the fallout.

Despite death threats against the artists, protest strikes in Kashmir, condemnation from Muslim leaders worldwide and even criticism from the UN, the paper refuses to apologize for publishing the drawings Sept. 30, citing freedom of speech.

"If we apologize, we go against the freedom of speech that generations before us have struggled to win," Carsten Juste, chief editor of Jyllands-Posten, said.

After the drawings were published, 11 ambassadors from Muslim countries signed a letter of protest to Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen, but his government has refused to intervene.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemned the drawings during a visit to Denmark last month.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour was investigating the matter.
"I understand your attitude to the images that appeared in the newspaper," Arbour wrote the Organization of the Islamic Conference. "I find alarming any behaviors that disregard the beliefs of others. This kind of thing is unacceptable."